Means for handling loose material



March 17, 1931. J. D. COLBY ET'AL MEAKS FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIAL Filed Dec. 1928 I'll; I

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IM/0014104 JIM: @111 BM. EU 11:1

Patented Mar. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN D. COLBY, OI EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS, AND OLIVER M. COLBY, OF ALTON,

- A 1. NEW HAMPSHIRE MEANS FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIAL Application filed December 17, 1928. Serial No. 326,679.

Our invention relates to means for transferring material from one container to another container, as unloading a ship or freight car and transferring the cargo to a storage bin or to transporting vehicles. The invention has for its object the provision of simple, inexpensive and compact apparatus whereby an air blast may be efiiciently utilized as a moving force to transfer loose material from one point to another point, as, for

example, in removing a cargo of coal, sand or the like from the hull of a boat to a storage bin upon a dock. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an apparatus embodying theinvention,

1 Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the controlling valve,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the controlling valve,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the hopper at the inlet thereof, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail.

In producing an apparatus embodying the invention, there is provided a suction tube or. conduit 1 which may be of any suitable material and of any desired length, the receiving end of the conduit being flexible, as indicated at 2, whereby it may be readily disposed in proper relation to the material which is to be transferred. The hose or suction conduit may be constructed of flexible material throughout its length or may be jointed or otherwise arranged so that it may be fitted to the'conditions in which it is to be used. There is also provided a hopper 3 into which the load is delivered by the suction tube, this hopper being provided with a pipe 4 having one end opening into the hopper at the top ofthe same and disposed substantially tangential thereto. This pipe 4 is appreciably greater in diameter than the suction tube and in intermediate tube 5 is telescopically fitted to the pipe 4 and the suctiontube, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the delivery chamber defined by the pipe 4 and the intermediate section 5 may be elongated as may be necessary. At the outer end of the intermediate section 5, there is secured thereto the outer end of a rack which has its inner end engaged in a guide 41 on the section 4, and mounted in suitable hearings on the section 4 is a shaft carrying a hand wheel 42 and a pinion 43 meshing with the rack whereby the parts may be adjusted in an obvious manner. The hopper 3 is tapered at its lower end, as shown at 6, and has an outlet opening 7 through which the material is discharged into the bin or other receptacles. Immediately above the tapered discharge end 6 is a guide flange or rim 8 embedded in the body or the hopper and at a suitable point above said guide ring or flange 8 is a similar flange or ring 9. Valves or cut-off gates 10 and 11 are slidably mounted in these rings and operate alternately so that when the upper valve 11 is opened the lower valve 10 will be closed, this position being illustrated in Fig. 1. These cut-oil? valves or gates are operated by mechanism which will be presently more particularly described. Rising centrally from the top of the hopper 3 is a suction pipe 12 which leads into a fan casing 13 containing a rotary fan carried by a fan shaft 14 mounted in any suitable support, as 15, and

equipped witha band pulley 16 whereby Inotion may be imparted to the fan from any source of power. The outlet 17 of the fan casing is disposed laterally with respect to the inlet suction tube 12. It will now be understood that, when the fan is rotated, a suction will be created through the tube 1, the chamber 4 and the upper portion of the hopper 3 whereby the loose material will be drawn into the top of the hopper. Inasmuch as the pipe or chamber 4 is much larger in diameter than the suction tube 1, the air will expand within said tube and, consequently,

the velocity of the material will be reduced so that the material will tend to separate from the air and will drop by gravity when it enters the hopper 3, the air, however, rising through the suction pipe 12 and being driven through the outlet 17 of the fan casing.

To each cut-off valve 10, 11, there is attached a piston rod 18 which extends outwardly from the valve and is supported by a guide arm or bracket 19 projecting from the side of the hopper 3. These piston rods extend through the adjacent ends of respective cylinder 20 and 21 and are secured to pistons 22 and 23 slidably mounted within the respective cylinders. Preferably disposed between the cylinders is a valve casing 2 having a dischar e pipe 25. leadingv centrally from one end and extending to the suction pipe 12 to discharge into the same. The suction created by the fan will, of course, act through the pipe 25, and the operation of the valve within the casing 24 causes said suction to actuate the pistons 22 and 23 alternately, thereby accomplishing the desired alternate opening and closing of the cut-off valves 10' and 11. l/Vithin the valve casing 2a is a rotatable valve 26 having a radial passage or chamber 27 in communication axially with the outlet pipe 25. This valve fits closely but rotatably within the casing and, at the side opposite the outlet pipe 25, is secured to a shaft 28 which is driven through worm gearing, indicated at 29, from any convenient source of power which may or may not be the same motor which drives the suction fan. Pipes 30 and 31 extend from opposite Y ends of the cylinder 20 to the valve casing 24 and similar pipes 32 and 33 extend from the opposite ends of the cylinder 21 to the valve casing, the pipes 32 and 33, however, extendmg past each other before entering the valve casing, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 1. The valve will have a close running fit circumferentially with the valve casing to avoid appreciable leakage of air and one side of the casing is open, as shown in Fig. 2. In operation, just as the space be tween the valve 10' and the plane of the valve 11 is filled by the material, the valve 26 brings its port or passage 27 into alinement with the pipe-30, as shown in Fig. 3, and suction is thereby 'createdinithe cylinder 20 infront of the pistonj22 so that the piston. is drawn forward and the valve 11 closed. The continued rotation of the valve will then place the port or passage 27 in alinement with the pipe 33 so that the'suction will act in the cylinder 21 back of the piston 23 and will draw said piston rearwardly so that the valve 1.0 willbe opened and the material will be discharged. The continued rotation of the valve will then admit the suction to the pipe 32 so that the piston 23 will be drawn forwardly and the cut-off valve 10 again closed,

the action being 'so timed that there will be an interval sufficient for the discharge of all the material before the valve 10 is returned to its closed cut-off position. The rotation of the valve 26 continues and the pipe 31 will be brought into alinement with the passage or port 27'so that the suction will act in the cylinder 20 at the back of the piston 22 and withdraw the same and the valve 11, thereby returning the parts to the position illustrated in the drawing. The suction fan, of course, operates continuously so that the flow of material through the several suction tubes from the cargo to the top of the hopper 3 will not be interrupted. lVhen the upper cut-off 11 is closed, material below the cut-off will be discharged through the bottom of-the hopper but material will collect upon the cutoff 11 so that when the parts are restored to the posit-ion shown in Fig. 1, this accumulated material will drop at once to the cut-off 10 and be held thereby until the cut-off 10 is opened to permit discharge of the same. It will thus be seen that the vacuum in the suction conduit is maintained unbroken whenever the apparatus is working.

The tangential arrangement of'the pipe or expansion chambers will cause the material to take a whirlingmotion when itentors the hopper and it will be thereby effectually separated from the air commingled therewith, the air passing out to and by the suction fan. The device is simple, compact and efiicient and will operateautomatically after it has been once started, the only attention necessary being such as" may be needed to maintain the free end of the suction tube 1 in engagementwith the material which is to be transferred. It will be understood that the motor, the fan and the valve may be located as may be most convenient or advantageous under any given conditions.

.l-laving thus described the invention, we claim:

1. Means for the purpose set forth comprising a hopper, means for creating a suctionthro-ugh the top of'the hopper, a telescopic material-conveying conduit entering the hopper at the top of the same, alternately operable cut-ofis mounted in the hopmaterial-conveying conduit entering the hopper at the top of the same, alternately operable cut-offs slidably mounted in the lower if tures.

JOHN D. COLBY. OLIVER M. COLBY. 

